Nathan kinman



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN KINMAN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

FLOUR-PACKER.

Speeicaton forming part of Letters Patent No. 6,830, dated October 30, 1849; Reissued April 26, 1864, No. 1,659.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN KINMAN, of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Packing Flour, and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things before known and of the usual manner of making, modifying, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a perspective view of the apparatus; Fig. 2, is a vertical section through the center; Fig. 3, shows the lever and platform on which the barrel is raised. l

The most important element in packing flour, in large mills, is expedition; and however perfect any apparatus may be in packing, if it has not this great desideratum, it is useless in such situations. The great 0bject therefore of my improvements is to give greater expedition to the process of packing our than has heretofore been done, retaining at the same time such parts of the old and well known apparatus for packing as are necessary to carry out my designs.

At a proper distance frm the packing floor (ca) I suspend a tube, (5,) which will contain about a barrel of flour, or a little more; this tube is somewhat larger at the top than at the bottom, which is made just to tit into the top of the barrel; the upper The packing apparatus consist-s of a shaft` (g,) that extends up vertically through the center of the tube (6,) to a suflicient height above the chest which contains the flour to be packed; it will vary in length from fifteen to forty feet, according to the size of the chest through which it passes. It has eight (more or less) arms, or inclined blades, (L,) radiating in different directions from it, one above the other, near its lower end. This shaft is made hollow, and is open at the bottom, and at thetop has lateral holes into it; above which it is solid, and has a groove cut into it on each side;

this solid part of the shaftpasses up through d the hollow shaft of a miter wheel (i) that has its bearings in two bridge trees (76,) be- *tween which it is located; two friction wheels, (77,) are inserted in the hollow shaft of this miter wheel, that enters the grooves above named in shaft (g,) and guide and turn it as hereafter more clearly set forth one half the thickness of each of the bridge trees c,) is cut large enough for a bearing for the shaft of the miter wheel; the other serving as a bearing for the fluted shaft ((1,) by which it is steadied; the miter wheel has another (L) working into it, .on a horizontal shaft, by which the whole is driven; the last named wheel being loose on the shaft, with which it is connected by a clutch of ordinary construction, that is moved b v a bent lever (m), hereafter described. The shaft (9,) is suspended at its upper end by a swivel (m) to a lever (0,) which has a connection rod (79,) affixed to its other end by which the shaft is raised and lowered.

The operation is as follows: The chest is filled with floursay several hundred barrels, and passes down into the tube (5,); a barrel is placed in the position shown in drawing under the tube, and the shaft is lowered into it, and being hollow, permits the air to escape up through it from the barrel, by which I avoid the dust and waste occasioned by the escape of air through the -flour at the sides; when the shaft reaches the lowest point, `a collar (r) thereon strikes the bent lever (m,) above named, and clutches the bevel gearing with the prime mover, and thus causes the shaft (g,) to revolve and pack the flour, by means of the inclined blades, into the barrel, and at the same time gradually rise up into the tube (5,) where it also packs the flour, and condenses it ready for the next operation. (This I consider a very important operation for expediting the business.) As soon as the lower blades on the shaft have risen to a level with the bottom of the tube,there is another collar (3,) set on the shaft so as to strike the bent lever m,) and throw the clutch3 out of gear and stop the revolution of the shaft; the barrel of packed flour is lowered4 on the platform,

on which it rests, and lbreaks 0E from the main body in the tube, that is retained by means of the blades on the shaft; a new barrel is then put up'on the platform in place of the one filled, and it is raisedvup toV the tubeythe shaft is then lowered aga-in, carry-ing with it the condensed flour in the tube, and the process again commences by the revolving of the shaft; but inasmuch as the barrel is filled withfiour previously, condensed, it is packed, and the shaft ascends more rapidly than if the previous condensation had not taken place. This process is repeated with' each` succeeding l barrel till the whole of the flour contained in the chest is packed.

Having thus fully described my improved apparatus and its mode of operation what I claim therein as new and for which I desire to secure Letters Patent is r1. The packing apparatus consisting of'a combination of the tube b, and inclined blades for condensing the flour and retaini ing it while moving thebarrel substantially in the. .manners and for the purposes set forth.

2. I claim the hollow shaft for expelling the air from the barrel in packing as above described. I also claim the self acting clutch ,in combination with the packing apparatus in the manner above made known.

NATHAN KINMAN.

Witnesses:

J. J. GREENOUGH', WM. BISHOP.

` [FIRST PRINTED 1913.] 

